The present invention relates generally to security devices which act as a physical barrier against unauthorized entry through an entryway. More particularly, the present invention relates to devices which act as restraining barricades to prevent a door from being opened and entry gained by an unauthorized or unwanted person.
Concern for the safety of one's person, residence or business property is an unfortunate fact of daily life. A myriad of apparatus and devices have been devised to increase personal safety as well as the safety of residences and business premises against unauthorized access and intrusion. The present invention is particularly well-suited to assist the homeowner, renter or business owner in securing entry doorways against unauthorized intrusion.
Various types of doorway security devices are known. Such types of doorway security devices include mechanical apparatus such as deadbolt locks, deadbolt latch locks, locking hasps, sliding pins which engage locking recesses, door handle wedge bars, hinge locks and barrier bars, and electronic devices such as electromagnetic switches and infrared sensors. The following patents are representative of types of mechanical apparatus:
The Palmer patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,082,332, issued in 1978, discloses a security apparatus which comprises a rigid bar and a pair of brackets. A hollow cylinder of resilient foam material surrounds the bar over a short length. The cylinder is positioned to overlie the doorknob side of the door, thus cushioning the shock of the door being forcibly opened. The end of the bar is inserted into and through the closed loop of one bracket and between the inner portion and flange of the J-shaped bracket. The bar may be hung from one of the brackets in a non-operative position by inserting an extension on the bar into an aperture in the bracket.
The O'Neal, et al. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,911, issued in 1984, discloses a security door bar system in which a rigid bar extends in front of a door between a pair of mounting brackets. One bracket has an elongated slot and the other has a T-shaped slot. The opposite ends of the bar have a reduced diameter and a flange, allowing the bar to axially penetrate, and be restrained by and between, the bracket members.
The Fizer patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,656, issued in 1994, discloses a door security bar system which comprises an adjustable cylinder bar with a self-contained hinge on one end for rotating the bar to the storage position and a locking pin on the other end which restrains the bar when it is in security position. A closed-ended bracket, with an indentation for holding the locking pin, holds the bar in security position and a catcher holds the bar in the storage position. The third bracket allows the bar to rotate. This security bar extends across the width of the door, but does not extend beyond the door molding, as in your device. The brackets do not include pintles or coaxial cylindrical members and the bar does not include an adjustment knob.
The Dameron patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,910, issued in 1988, discloses a self-releasing security bar which device includes a telescoping bar with opposite ends engaging wall brackets. Aligned transverse holes in the bar allow a release pin to maintain the bar in its extended length. When the release pin is pulled, a spring pulls the bar sections to a shorter overall length, permitting the bar to fall away from the mounting brackets.
The Sweet patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,172, issued in 1994, discloses a door security system for use on both inward and outward opening doors. This system includes an elongated telescoping bar that engages both door knobs and docking ferrules incorporated into the opposing door hinges. Door jamb mounting brackets are used for outward opening double doors.
The Hutson patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,905, issued in 1993, discloses a door locking system which engages the door frame on an outwardly opening door and includes a panic bar which moves towards the door for disengaging the locking system. An outer sleeve fixedly mounts to the interior surface of the door and an inner sleeve pulls against a spring to a door frame engagement position.
The Rice patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,140, issued in 1994, discloses a door security device which includes a security bar extending across the surface of the door, opposing blocking members resting against the door frame and an attachment mechanism including J-shaped hooks which engage a portion of the door.
The Teaff patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,254, issued in 1993, discloses a door securing device which consists of a first bracket with a slot and a second hinged bracket with a slot mounted outside the door jambs. The second latch includes a slit which extends around an outwardly extending receiving latch. A security bar, with stops on both ends, extends across the surface of the door and the door jambs and engages the brackets.
The Watson, Jr. patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,982, issued in 1995, discloses a door security bar consisting of an elongated rod with an arcuate handle end. The handle end has a downward extension which is rotatable within a ferrule bar sleeve portion mounted adjacent to the door. The elongated rod is insertable within the floor adjacent to the door.
The Black patent, U.S. Pat. No. 2,882,088, issued in 1959, discloses pin-like connectors for removable cattle racks for vehicles. This patent discloses a hook and eye type connector. An elongated tongue projects forwardly from the body of the hook. A vertical shank extends from the tongue and terminates in a long tapered pin. A bore extends through the body of the hook, allowing the pin to mate with the body of the hook.
The Ellis patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,571, issued in 1977, discloses a locking means for doors and windows. The device consists of a pair of plates. One of the plates is mounted on the back of the door proximate each hinge and the other plate is mounted on the jamb with its angled end portion projecting behind the angled end portion of the plate.
The Schrader patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,760, issued in 1994, discloses a portable lock for doors. The lock consists of a unitary plate, attached to the inner side of a door, with a clamping and locking mechanism. The clamping mechanism is a wing nut and the locking mechanism is a lock cylinder and an opening for insertion of a peg.
Conventional doorways consist primarily of doors which are mounted on hinges to a door jamb. The door jamb is, in turn, mounted into a structural opening in a wall. It is well known in the construction field that when building a wall which is to have a door, an opening is created by framing a door opening of the same structural support material used to make the wall. For example, in typical home construction, interior walls are made of generally horizontally oriented header and toe members and vertical studs, all typically made from wood "two-by-fours" having a nominal transverse cross-sectional dimension of 11/2 inches by 31/2 inches. Door openings in wood framed walls are typically made by framing the lateral aspects of the door opening using two or three "two-by-four" studs positioned adjacent and attached to one another so that their largest lateral dimensions are in abutting relationship. The upper aspect of the door opening is also created by cutting two or three "two-by-fours" to the desired width of the door opening, attaching them to one another so that their largest lateral dimensions are in abutting relationship, thereby creating a door header assembly and then attaching the door header assembly to each of the lateral aspects of the door opening. Front and rear entry-way door openings are typically 32 inches or 36 inches in width. The rough framing for the door opening, consisting of the wall studs and cripple studs, typically extends four inches on each lateral side of the door opening, thereby adding a total of eight inches to the total door frame width. Thus, a 36 inch door opening has rough framing which extends 44 inches in width, while a 32 inch door opening has rough framing which extends 40 inches in width. The door opening is known in the art as the door frame. Once the framed wall having the door frame therein is in place, a wall surface is typically applied over the wall. Typical wall surfaces are drywall sheets made of compressed plaster or concrete having paper or paperboard planar front and back surfaces. The drywall sheets, having a typical wall thickness of 1/2 inch, are applied to the framed wall and attached to the wall studs using nails or screws.
After the drywall is secured to the wall, a door mounted on hinges in a door jamb may be mounted into the door frame and secured therein using nails or screws. Door trim pieces are then applied around the perimeter of the door frame to cover any opening between the door jamb and the door frame. The door trim is largely esthetic in nature and is non-structural, but typically covers up to 11/2 inches of the rough door frame around its perimeter. Thus, approximately 21/2 inches of door frame remain in which to secure a mounting bracket to retain a security device in a strong fixed position in the door frame studs.
Virtually anyone familiar with hinged doors understands that hinged doors open by pivoting on hinges through an arc typically from 0.degree., where 0.degree. represents the door in its closed position coplanar with the wall, to greater than 90.degree. to permit passage through the doorway.
Virtually all of the conventional barricade-type doorway security devices permit the door to open a small distance, for example less than 15.degree. relative to the wall, to permit visual identification of persons outside the doorway. Because many unauthorized intrusions occur because extraordinary forces are applied to the door, such as by kicking, prying, ramming, etc., any small opening in the door provides increased opportunity for the unwanted intruder to access the door hinges or break the door off of its hinges and obtain unauthorized entry.
It has been found desirable, therefore, to provide a doorway security barricade apparatus which removably attaches to the door frame and which includes a means to apply a positive pressure to the door and restricts movement of the door latch or deadbolt within the door jamb, prevents opening of the door, and restrains against extraordinary external forces applied against an exterior surface of the door.